My heart sank as I read the article in the Wall Street Journal.
My alma mater, the Macomb campus of Western Illinois University, was featured as an example of America’s new “rust belt” – once-booming college towns now struggling because of dwindling enrollment rates. In the past 15 years, enrollment has dropped by 47 percent, and the bustling community I remember from my college days is quickly becoming a ghost town.
Macomb is hardly unique, and its story serves as a powerful reminder of how fortunate we are in northern Arizona, where one of the biggest drivers of our regional economy is Northern Arizona University.
“The long-term health and vitality of NAU and Flagstaff are inextricably linked,” noted NAU Associate Vice President of Community Relations Joshua Maher, who is also the chair of the ECoNA Board.
Statewide enrollment at NAU has grown over the past three years, with 28,468 full- and part-time students registered last fall, the majority of which were on the Flagstaff campus. But NAU isn’t just a university – it’s an economic anchor. It’s our region’s largest employer with about 2,800 direct employees.
Indirectly, however, it supports more than 21,000 jobs statewide between operations, capital investments, student spending, and visitor spending, according to a recent report by the university’s Economic Policy Institute, which estimates that NAU’s economic impact in fiscal year 2023 topped $2.1 billion.
Last month, more than 5,700 students earned their degrees from NAU, joining the talent pipeline that northern Arizona needs in healthcare, education, STEM, and more. During graduation weekend, Buxton Analytics registered 16,400 cell phone pings on the NAU campus in Flagstaff. The GPS data that feeds into the “mobilytics” report is typically about 30% of the actual total, which is in line with the roughly 44,000 tickets NAU provided for the event. This influx of visitors packed hotels, restaurants, shops, and attractions in our region.
NAU’s future continues to look bright with its recent R1 research designation by the Carnegie Foundation – the highest classification for research universities in the United States. With this designation, NAU is poised to bring even more cutting-edge research, development and investment to northern Arizona.
“The belief that education is essential to a better future inspired Flagstaff’s community members more than 125 years ago to establish a place for higher learning in the region,” said NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera. “Since then, the enduring partnership between Flagstaff and NAU has been marked by collaboration, innovation, and shared pride. This relationship exemplifies how a university can serve as a cultural cornerstone and economic engine for its community. We are proud to be part of Flagstaff’s past, present, and future – and remain committed to serving as an engaged community partner and resource, driving economic growth and enriching the cultural fabric of our region.”
In Macomb, the decline of a once-thriving university has been devastating for the community around it. Here in northern Arizona, NAU is helping keep our economy strong and serving as a powerful partner – in innovation, quality of life, and workforce development.
Let’s never take that for granted.
Gail Jackson
ECoNA President & CEO
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